Reading Eagle: Bill Uhrich |
Andre Reed, Kutztown University graduate and National Football League Hall of Fame wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills, reads "I'm Going To Be A Great Man" children's book while Jerry Jones cuts his hair Friday at City Cuts in Kutztown. Shop owner Jonathan Escueta cuts hair in the background.

Andre Reed and Jonathan Escueta have more in common than it might seem.

Sure Reed is a Kutztown University football legend who went on to have an incredibly successful career as a wide receiver in the National Football League for 16 seasons. He also was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014.

But before all that he was a shy kid from Allentown who struggled to find his voice in the spotlight.

"I look back at some of the interviews I did when I was in college and I cringe," he said Friday afternoon while getting a fresh cut at City Cuts Barbershop in Kutztown. "It took me awhile to figure out how to talk to the media and how to talk to my coaches. Doing it over and over again helped me."

Escueta, the owner of the barbershop, also is naturally shy and quiet. And like Reed, sports helped him come out of his shell.

It was through his work coaching youth basketball that Escueta realized a lot of young people lack the confidence to let their voices be heard. That's why he created a special program at his shop.

“I was really shy as a kid,” he said. “Actually, I was really shy as an adult until I began coaching basketball. I had to give the kids directions and tell them the game plan so I had to work on my confidence.”

Escueta has gained national attention for an initiative he implemented about two years ago that offers incentives to children brave enough to read aloud while they get a cut. It became known as Books by Kids and generated buzz among those who visited the Main Street business.

And that program is why Reed stopped by on Friday.

"When I heard about it I thought it was so great that there was a program like this — and that it was happening right down the street from where I went to school was really awesome," he said. "The reading aspect of it really caught my attention."

Reed has been on a similar mission. He launched the Read with Reed 83 Challenge in partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs in six NFL cities to encourage kids to read and track the number of books they finish. The incentive offered to those who complete the challenge by reading a certain number of books is an on-the-field meet-and-greet with some of their favorite NFL players.

"Reading is essential to being successful," he said. "I tell kids all the time that if I couldn't read when I played football then I would have never known the plays we were running."

Reed spent more than an hour at the barbershop Friday afternoon talking with Escueta and the City Cuts staff about his program and commended the barbers for making an impact in their community. He said he hopes to collaborate with the business in the future.

In the meantime, the Hall of Famer signed trading cards and handed them out to those in the shop and those who happened to stop in for a haircut. He also gave Escueta something special.

Learning that Escueta will be moving the barbershop this spring to a bigger space in the same building it occupies now and seeing in videos posted online that he likes to decorate the walls of his shop with large decals of sports figures, Reed presented him with a custom design of himself in his Buffalo Bills uniform.

"I saw he had one of Allen Iverson on the wall. Well, Allen Iverson didn't go to school here but I did," he said with big smile.